Arrests Made In Explosives Case in Fresno / Police say 5 teens out hunting took stockpile

Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, January 4, 2000

2000-01-04 04:00:00 PDT FRESNO -- Five Fresno-area teens were arrested yesterday in connection with the theft of hundreds of pounds of explosives from a police stockpile they reportedly stumbled upon while hunting.

Most of the missing explosives were found buried under the floorboards of an abandoned cabin in Madera County. More arrests are possible, authorities said.

Law enforcement officials were quick to attribute the theft to youthful experimentation and not to any organized effort to attack the government or commit terrorism, as had been feared.

"It was nothing militant, it was just kids, 18-year-old kids drinking beer," said Fresno County Sheriff's Lt. Robert Hagler. "They were out hunting in a remote area, they stumbled on this, it has a barbed-wire topped fence, they decided to see what was inside."

"He's just saying he's sorry, he's scared," said Bledsaw's aunt, April Sterling. "He's saying they had no intentions of being a terrorist. We're trying to figure out why, other than kids messing around for fun. I'm thankful (police) did find them before somebody got hurt."

All five teenagers are expected to be charged with burglary and possession of a destructive device. Hagler described the youths as "rural cowboy kids" who mostly attend Sierra High in Auberry, although one attended community college in Reedley.

"It seems like kids with a lot of time on their hands," said Doug Jones, principal of Sierra High, attended by 1,100 students. "They were average kids. They are rural kids. I think they like to fish and hunt and probably spend a lot of time outdoors."

Hagler, assigned to the sheriff's special investigations division, said a break in the case came Sunday when a tipster supplied key information and some of explosive cache was recovered. A suspect also was arrested.

One teenager had been bragging about the theft, Hagler said.

Along with the explosives, authorities also recovered blasting caps, previously thought not to be stolen.

The boys told police that they had set off some of the explosives at Meadow Lakes, northeast of Fresno. No one was injured in the blast.

About 80 percent of the stolen material was recovered from the cabin in Coarsegold in Madera County, where the teenagers were trying to conceal it, Hagler said.

Police now believe that the burglary may have occurred as early as December 11, even though it was not discovered until December 27.

At least 60 sticks of dynamite, 12 pounds of military (C-4) explosives, 50 pounds of ammonium nitrate, 40 pounds of plastic explosive and 75 pounds of gunpowder were taken from the Fresno Police's bomb squad bunker. Police also seized several fuse and igniting devices, including nearly 200 blasting caps of various varieties.